The analgesic effects of kinetic remedies such as vibratory massage are well known in the medical field. Vibratory stimulation of muscle and other bodily tissue has been a proven medical therapy for many years. One problem facing many people suffering from pain is that a kinetic remedy can rarely be readily administered at the first signs of discomfort. Many of the causes of pain can be significantly relieved or reduced if treatment is administered during the early onset of pain. Further, using known equipment and techniques it can be difficult to apply vibratory stimulation to the affected area for long periods of time, or at least as long as the pain may persist, and thus may only provide a temporary relief.
Another problem facing pain sufferers is that the source of the pain may develop in an area of the body that is not readily or effectively accessible by known vibratory massage devices. In many cases the source of the symptom is buried too deep within the body for an external vibratory massage device to have any significant effect without irritating the intervening tissue. In other cases the source of the symptom may be too close to other sensitive tissue that would be adversely affected by an external vibratory stimulus strong enough to be effective on the tissue that is the source of the pain. In yet other cases the source of the pain is isolated from the effects of an external kinetic remedy by bone or other tissue that may dampen or otherwise attenuate the vibratory effect.
For example, some have proposed instruments employed for the removal of intervertebral implants that use ultrasonic vibrations to loosen and dislodge the prosthesis from the adjoining bone. This instrument is used during a surgical process, and is not believed to be suitable for applying useful vibrational massage to tissue for any length of time.
Others have proposed devices that employ ultrasonic vibrational energy in place of electrical stimulus for cardiac pacing, cardioversion, and defibrillation in response to detected arrhythmia. Such devices do not appear to be designed to provide vibrations with amplitude that is capable of providing pain relief. Further, these devices apply the vibrations to the heart or lungs, and some of the device even appear to employ vibrational elements located inside one of the ventricles of the heart, and thus is not suggestive of something that could provide pain relief.
Still others have proposed device that apply vibrations to the exterior of the body for various purposes. For example, systems have been devised for translating feelings or sensations from a prosthetic limb to the residual limb using acoustic vibrations, and is not designed or intended for therapeutic pain relief.
Yet others have proposed devices that are implanted in the body but are only caused to vibrate by stimulus applied from outside the body, such as when an acoustic transducer located outside of the body focuses energy on the implanted device. Thus, the implanted device is not able to generate vibrations by itself without the external stimulus being applied.
Further, devices have been proposed for implantation for the purpose of hearing assistance, audiological support, or replacement and testing. Although many of these devices include a vibratory element, the purpose of the vibratory generation is to pass on acoustic stimulation to sensory organs and is not believed to be suitable for vibratory massage.
Therefore what is needed is a device that has the ability to administer vibratory stimulus to the source of pain in a highly direct manner so as to administer the vibratory massage in a targeted manner to the tissue of the patient with the least amount of collateral effect, and has the ability to apply the vibratory massage at the earliest signs of the occurrence of the pain.